Chapter 9

Under the clear blue sky and amidst the emerald mountains...

By the clear little river, the village where the young boy lived was situated in such an environment, a very beautiful and pure village. However, it was rather remote, and those with talent had all gone out to make their mark in the world. They would only return if they failed.

Perhaps they missed this pure and beautiful village every day, but the colorful world outside made them more reluctant to leave. Now, the young boys were repeating the same cycle.

"Xiu Ying..."

Bu Zheng came to the small square and saw Xiu Ying waiting in the middle, so he greeted her.

"Bu Zheng!"

"Bu Zheng..." A few others greeted him along with Xiu Ying. They were mostly people without much talent in martial arts, with very ordinary abilities, currently a bit better than Bu Zheng, but Bu Zheng had only been practicing for a short time. They had been practicing for at least a few years, and it seemed they would spend their entire lives in this small village.

"Bu Zheng, do you have the confidence to join a sect?" Xiu Ying asked Bu Zheng.

"Of course I do, I think I will join a sect!" Bu Zheng nodded and said.

He believed that the chances of joining a sect this time were quite high. This wasn't just wishful thinking but based on facts. Even if he was currently at the bottom, the chances of joining a sect were still high because he didn't choose a specific sect or rank.

He could join any sect, even a small one, and these were still small sects within the Seven Stars Kingdom. For Ling Aoxue and Murong Qing, the Seven Stars Kingdom was just a small sect, a negligible one.

At the same time, he could become a miscellaneous disciple rather than the basic outer sect disciple level that others desired. Different goals naturally meant different levels of difficulty.

In the small forces of the Seven Stars Kingdom, miscellaneous disciples were there to serve the sect and were not the choice of those who wanted to stand out. Therefore, the entry requirements were very low. With Bu Zheng's abilities, becoming a miscellaneous disciple was more than enough.

As for why Bu Zheng would still want to join even with such treatment, it was because, even in a small sect, the income and benefits for a miscellaneous disciple were not something ordinary people could enjoy. For Bu Zheng, it was a high-paying job. If these sects didn't require disciples to be over fifteen years old, he would have already signed up.

"You must want to be a miscellaneous disciple," Xiu Ying said. She knew Bu Zheng quite well and could easily guess his thoughts.

Thinking about it, given Bu Zheng's displayed talent and abilities, the only reason he could be so confident was because of the position of a miscellaneous disciple.

"Right, I don't even think about being an outer sect disciple. My martial arts are probably at the bottom here," Bu Zheng said with a smile, not feeling embarrassed at all. It was a fact, and he had long accepted it.

"Which sect do you plan to join?" Xiu Ying asked. Their conversation didn't attract anyone's attention because they were both very ordinary. The attention was on the proud "geniuses" in the square.

"Me? Any sect will do. Wherever they want me, I'll go there," Bu Zheng chuckled, speaking the truth. No matter which sect's miscellaneous disciple he became, he could earn a decent "salary."

"Why don't we join the same sect? It would be good to have each other's support," Xiu Ying looked at Bu Zheng, a natural human instinct to find companionship.

"I'm fine with that, but it depends on whether they'll accept me. Which sect do you want to join?" Bu Zheng waved his hand, showing a carefree attitude.

"I hope to join one of the four major sects, but if that's not possible, then the Qingyun Sword Sect or the Huangji Palace..." Xiu Ying thought for a moment and said with a bit of longing.

The four major sects were the best in the Seven Stars Kingdom: Tai Xuan Sect, Ling Yun Sect, Butterfly Valley, and Yan Mountain Sect. They were all Yellow-level sects, the lowest tier of the Yellow level, but at least they had that level. Other sects didn't even reach this level.

In this world, all forces, including sects, were divided into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Yellow. Each level had its own sub-levels. Bu Zheng didn't know the exact criteria for this division, but he knew that Mystery-level forces were already very significant, with fewer than ten percent of Yellow-level forces.

As for Earth-level forces, he had no idea how many Mystery-level forces they equated to or how few they were. They were the place most geniuses wanted to enter!

And Heaven-level forces, there were only a few in the entire world, even geniuses could only look at them with longing, unreachable!

Bu Zheng didn't know these things and didn't need to know them because he felt he would never reach that level. Just knowing who the emperor was didn't mean he had to meet him, and even if he wanted to, could he?

Another point was that these forces also included countries, meaning that a country was a form of force, as were families, gangs, and any other form that could form a force.

Their territories were not smaller than those of countries, but they were generally called "influence areas" rather than territories.

This was normal because, in terms of martial power, even an army of a hundred thousand might not be able to match a Seventh Pulse martial artist, let alone those above that level.

The most important thing in an influence area was the strength of the martial artists, not the number of people!

The levels and natures of countries also varied. The levels were self-explanatory, but the natures were diverse. Some were purely forces, some were subordinate to other forces, and some were alliances of several forces.

The Seven Stars Kingdom was an alliance of several forces but was also subordinate to a Mystery-level force. This mixed nature was relatively common, as lower-level forces often sought to attach themselves to higher-level forces.

The leaders of the Seven Stars Kingdom's force alliance were the four major sects mentioned earlier. Therefore, these four major sects were naturally the most desired by the young generation of the Seven Stars Kingdom, but not everyone.

Some felt their strength was insufficient, some thought other sects suited them better, and some, like Bu Zheng, just wanted to join any sect.

"I like the Qingyun Sword Sect," Bu Zheng said.

"Why?" Xiu Ying looked at Bu Zheng with a bit of confusion.

"Because I practice sword techniques. Xiu Ying, look at this sword, isn't it different from before?" Bu Zheng took out his sword, drew it, and showed it to Xiu Ying. After his careful maintenance and some decorations, the sword really looked like a treasure sword.